Discover your next big idea at PACK EXPO Las Vegas
Experience a breakthrough in packaging & processing and transform your business with solutions from 2,300 suppliers spanning all industries. Click to learn more.

Industrial Drive Offers Built-in Fuse Disconnect

ABB’s ACS580 variable-frequency drive is not only protected in extreme environments, it also provides an alternative to a separate protected fuse box.

ABB ACS580 variable-frequency drive
At IPPE in Atlanta, ABB showed how its ACS580 UL Type 4X drive can handle extreme rain and washdown situations.
Aaron Hand

At the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE) in Atlanta, ABB was attracting attention by running a steady stream of water over one of the drives in its booth. The ACS580 UL Type 4X drive can handle extreme rain and washdown situations, along with heat, cold, salt spray, dust, and humidity. This makes it a good fit not only for the poultry farming and processing that IPPE is known for, but any kind of food and beverage applications facing washdown, splashing, and exposure to common sanitizers.

The ACS580 variable-frequency drive has optional integrated lockable UL98 line disconnect and fuses.The ACS580 variable-frequency drive has optional integrated lockable UL98 line disconnect and fuses.ABBIt is not uncommon for a drive to be made to work in a washdown area, however. What is uncommon is for that drive to have an optional disconnect that eliminates the need for a separate fuse box, explains Adam Bainbridge, product manager for machinery drives at ABB. “Instead of having to install a drive and then still wire everything back to the cabinet or still wire a separate fuse box right next to it, it’s all built into one,” he explains. “In the past, you might have a drive that could handle a washdown, but then you’ve got to worry about a fuse box that can also handle it. Or you would have to go back to some other control cabinet. This eliminates all of that.”

The optional robustly integrated lockable UL98 line disconnect and fuses allow the variable-frequency drive assembly to maintain 100 kA SCCR and meet the “in line of sight” NEC disconnect requirements to simplify installation and increase safety. The drive is equipped with a standard Bluetooth control panel, facilitating seamless and secure connectivity, commissioning, and monitoring through ABB apps like Drivetune and Drive Composer. The drive also features an optimized DC choke to mitigate harmonics, two option slots for expanding connectivity through fieldbus and additional I/O, and an optional sun shield helps further protect the UV-resistant drive.

Conveying Innovations Report
Editors report on distinguishing characteristics that define each new product and collected video demonstrating the equipment or materials as displayed at the show. This topical report, winnowed from nearly 300 PACK EXPO collective booth visits, represents a categorized, organized account of individual items that were selected based on whether they were deemed to be both new, and truly innovative, based on decades of combined editorial experience in experiencing and evaluating PACK EXPO products.
Take me there
Conveying Innovations Report
Annual Outlook Report: Workforce
Hiring remains a major challenge in packaging, with 78% struggling to fill unskilled roles and 84% lacking experienced workers. As automation grows, companies must rethink hiring and training. Download the full report for key insights.
Download Now
Annual Outlook Report: Workforce